Fire extinguishing system



May 20, 1941. H. M. SALMQN Eaem. 2 24 1 FIRE EXTINGUISQING SYSTEM FiledNov. 21, 1939 2 SheetsSheet 1 In venton by fl a? 15441;) Attorney 3 20,1943 H. M. SALMOND ET AL 2,242,579

FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM Filed Nov. 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedMay 20, 1941 FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM Hubert Mackenzie Salmond,Fareham, and Anders Math-isen, High Holborn, London, England, assignorsto Graviner Manufacturing Company Limited, London, England ApplicationNovember 21, 1939, Serial No. 305,556 In Great Britain November 9, 19384 Claims. (Cl. 169- 2) The invention relates to fire extinguishingsystems, and to apparatus or devices for use in such systems, moreparticularly when used onv aircraft, vessels and the like. The principalobject of the invention is to pro-- vide means whereby fireextinguishing fluid may be discharged into the .air intakes of all theengines of a multi-engined aircraft, or by a simple manipulation intoany one selected engine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cock for use in a fireextinguishing system in-an aircraft, which cock'normally establishescom-' munication between a fire extinguishing liquid container and theair intakes of all the engines of a multi-engined aircraft, but whichcan be operated by a single movement to establish connection between thecontainer and the air intake of any one selected engine.

A further object isto combine with such a cock, a switch or other meansto operate the container to discharge fluid therefrom, said switch orother means being operated by the cock at the end of its movement toestablish connection between the container and the air intake of any oneselected engine.

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following description of a system according to theinvention for extinguishing fires in the engines and engine nacelles ofmulti-engined aircraft and of a cock for use in such systems, read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings,

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a sectional view looking forward of part of a four-enginedaircraft equipped with a flreextinguishing system according to theinvention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a fluid distributing cock or valveaccording to the invention,

Figure 3 is a side view of the cock, partly in section and Figure 4 is asectional view taken on line A-A of Figure 3 showing the cock in themedial position. I

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the aircraft comprises a fuselageI in which is located a pilots seat 2, a starboard wing 3 and a portwing at 4, supporting respectively an inboard starboard engine 5 and anoutboard starboard engine 6, and an inboard port engine I and anoutboard port engine 8.

Within the pilots or other personnel compartment, and within convenientreach of the pilots or personnel members seat 2 are mounted two fireextinguishing liquid containers, one ofwhich 9, is mounted on thestarboard side'of the air-' craft, and is intended for extinguishingfires within .the nacelles of the starboard engines 5 and 5, while theother container l0.,is mounted on the port sideof the aircraft andisflintended for extinguishing fires withi'nthe nacelles of the portengines. I and 8. The containers 9 and j'lfl are mounted in brackets 'lI and I2 respectively was to put them into communication with respectivepipe distribution systems, at the same time enabling the containers tobe readily removed for manual use within the compartments in theaircraft if necessary.

The outlet of the container 9 is automatically, put into communicationwith one endof a de livery pipe l3 when locatedw'ithin its securingbracket II, and the other end of 'tlie'p'ipe I3 is, connected to aninlet passageway ll of a gcockt I5 secured on the side of thefuselagewithin easy reach of the pilots seat'2.

The cock is shown in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4' and is provided withtwo outlet passageways 1,6 and H, which are connected by pipes l9 and[II respectively to the air intake connections of the outboard andinboard starboard engines respectively.

The plug 20 of the cock whichis rotatably mounted inthe cock body I5, isprovided wanpassageways therethrough so that in the medial position ofthe plug as shown inFigures 2, 3 and 4, the inlet passageway M of thecock is in communication through the passagewaysin the plug with both ofthe outlet passageways li'and l1, and thus, also with both fluiddistributing pipes I8 and IS. The passageways in the plug are alsoarranged so that when the plug 20' is rotated in a clockwise direction,as by handle 30 .as seen inFigure 2 in dotted lines, the passageway isput into communication with the passageway,"

and the pipe I8, where as when the plug is rotated in an anti-clockwisedirection, the passageway I4 is put into communicationwith thepassageway l6 and thepipe I9. a,

Normally the plug 20 is left in its medialposition as shown in Figure 4so thatsfiuid may be discharged from the container 9 to theair intakeconnections and engine compartments of both starboard engines 5 and 6.

The automatic operation of the container 9 may be effected either by aninertiaoperatedi.

switch 2| on theoccurrence of a crash, or hy' a gravity operated switch.22 if the aircraft oven turns on landing, why a manually operableswitch 23 on the instrument board 24 of the 'aircraft if the pilotdesires to effect discharge of the container, as for example, inanticipation of a crash. In the event of discharge of the container bythe operation of either of these switches, it is desired that the mildshould be distributed to both engines, and this is assured if the cockis in its normal medial position.

If it should be desired to supply extinguishing fluid to only oneengine, as for example due to a fire during flight, the cock could beturned to the appropriate position to put the passageway ll intocommunication with the appropriate outlet passageway It or H, anddischarge from the container effected by operation of the switch 23.This howeverinvolves two separate operations, which is very undesirablein connection with aircraft, and the cock I5 is therefore in thepreferred form of the present invention arranged to embody an electricswitchfor operating the con tainer 9, the switch being operated by thecock at the end of its-operative movement on either side of itsnormalmedial position.

For this purpose, thecock plug 20 has secured thereto a cam 25 of theshape shown in Figure 2, and this cam bears on the upperend of a button26 of a push button type switch 21, which is supported on the cockcasing by means of a clamping bracket 28. The switch is electricallyconnected to the container 9 so as to operate the discharge devicethereof when the button 26 is depressed to close the electric circuit.

In order to rotate the cock plug 20 and the cam 25,'the spindle 25 ofthe plug is squared and has secured thereto a handle 30. The handle isprovided with a transversely arranged pin 3| which is loaded 'by aspring 32 to bias the pin againstthe outer surface of the clampingbracket 20. The bracket 28 is provided with three shallow depressions inwhich the pin II can engage to retain the cock in any of its threepositions, the depressions being suitablxspaced for this purpose. 7

(In order "to indicate the connections which are established for thedifferent positions of the handle 30, a dial 33 suitably marked issecured to the bracket 23 so as to be'located in front of the handle 30.

In operation, when the pilot wishes to supply fire extinguishing fiuidto either one of the starboard engines it is only necessary for him torotate the handle 30 in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction througha right angle, when the engine compartment and air intake connection ofthe chosen engine will be put into communication with the fiuidcontainer and thereafter the container will be operated to effectdischarge of fiuid into the said compartment and air intake. Due to theshape of the cam 25, the push button 26 is not depressed until the endportion of the rotation of the handle 30, in which positioncommunication between'the inlet passageway ll and the outlet passagewayto the supply pipe not selected is completely cut off.

The arrangement above described is duplicated for supplying fiuid toeither of the port engines I or 8, the fluid being supplied in this casefrom the container i througha cook 34 corresponding to the cook 15 andthence through pipe 35 and/or pipe .36 to the engine compartment and airintake connections of the inboard and/ or out board port engines I and 8respectively. 7

It will be evident that the arrangement hereinbefore described by way ofexample, may be modified within the scope of the invention, and that ifdesired, the two cocks l and it may be combined in a single unitoperated by a single lever. Also in the case of a twin engined aircraft,only one cock such as I5 is necessary. one pipe, such as, 18 beingarranged to extend to the port engine while the other pipe, such as [9,extends to the starboard engine;

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim asnew anddesire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fire extinguishing system, a fiuid container, a multipleposition cock including an inlet passage and' a pluralityof outputpassages, an inlet pipe connecting said inlet passage to said container,a plurality of conduits respectively connecting said output passages toa plurality of points of discharge','said cock-being constructed to in-afirst normal master position connect said inlet passage to all of saidoutput passages and in each of its other positions to connect said inletpassage to a selected one of said output passages, electricswitch meansactuatable into closed position by actuation of said cock into aconnecting position other than said normal master position, andelectrically actuatable discharge means for said container connected tosaid switch means for discharging said container when said switch meansis closed.

2. In a fire extinguishing system, a fluid container, a multipleposition cock including an inlet passage and a pluralityof outputpassages, an'inlet pipe connecting said inlet passage to said container,a plurality of conduits respectively connecting said output passages toa plurality of points of discharge, said cock beingconstructed to in afirst normal master position connect said inlet passage to all of saidoutput passages and in each of its other positions to connect said inletpassage to a selected one of said output passages, electric switch meansactuatable into closed position by actuation of said cock throughout thecomplete movement required to fully connect a selected one of saidoutput passages to said inlet passage and to fully disconnect the othersof said output passages from said inlet passage, and electricallyactuatable discharge means for said container connected to said switchmeansfor discharging saidcontainer when said switch means is closed.

3. In a fire extinguishing system, a fluid container, discharge meansfor said container, a multiple position cock including an inlet passageand a plurality of output passages, an inlet pipe connecting said inletpassage to said container, a plurality of conduits respectivelyconnecting said output passages to aplurality of points of discharge,said cock being constructed to in a first normal master position connectsaid'inlet passage to all of said output passages, said cock furthercomprising means actuatable by movement of said cock'into one of itsoperating connecting positions other than said first master position forsimultaneously connecting said inlet passage to a selected one of saidoutput passages and disconnecting said inlet passage from all others ofsaid output passages and actuating said discharge means..

4. In a fire extinguishing system, a fluid container, a multipleposition cock including an inlet passage and a plurality of outputpassages, an inlet pipe connecting said inlet passage to said container,a plurality of conduits respectively connecting said output passages toa plurality of points of discharge, said cock being constructed to in afirst normal master position connect said inlet passage to all of saidoutput passages and in each of its other positions to connect comprisingan actuating member engageable with said cammeans, said cam'means andsaid switch means being constructed and arranged to actuate said switchmeans into circuit closing position when said cock is actuated into aconnecting po- 10 sitlon other than normal master position, but to leavesaid switch means in normal open circuit position when said cock is insaid. normal master position, and electrically actuatable dischargemeans for said container connected to said switch means for dischargingsaid container when said switch means is in circuit closing posltion. va

'HUBERT MACKENZIE SALMOND. ANDERS MATHISEN;

